Windows 8 operating system upon force restart displays black screen with a blinking cursor. This issue occurs when restarting Windows 8 after it is shutdown or is in hibernation and you have set turn on fast startup power option. Most of the time, the cause of this kind of problem are due to bad drivers or other third-party programs, but not this time.

To fix this issue, Microsoft has released a hotfix (Fix413812). Announcing the hotfix (KB 2756559) for the problem, Microsoft support website has identified two scenarios which may cause the issue. Typically the issue has been found in Windows 8 installations that is Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) compliant and that has a UEFI/GPT configuration.

Microsoft has asked only affected users to install the hotfix and asked its users to wait for the next P1 which will have this hotfix. Therefore, if you are running Windows 8 and haven’t faced the issue yet, do not install this hotfix.

Windows 8 displays black screen with a blinking cursor

These scenarios are identified by Microsoft in KB 2756559

Scenario 1

When Windows 8 restarts, the computer is forcibly turned off or reset.

Scenario 2

In Windows 8, you have either enabled or disabled the Turn on fast startup power option.

You put Windows 8 into hibernation.

When Windows 8 restarts, the computer is forcibly turned off or reset.

In either of the scenarios identified above, if you try to restart Windows 8 again. Windows 8 will freeze before the desktop is generated. At that point, you will get either blank or black screen with cursor.

The main cause of the Windows 8 black screen issue as identified by Microsoft

When you restart Windows 8 the second time after it is forcibly turned off, the operating system tries to use the fast startup method. During the process, Windows 8 determines that the previous boot attempt was unsuccessful. The operating system then tries use full startup method to restart. But full startup method fails here because of an access violation caused by memory corruption.

Note: As already said in the beginning of the post, Microsoft has asked only severely affected users to install the hotfix and asked users not affected to wait for the next P1 which will have this hotfix.

To download the hotfix, visit this page. You will find that by default, it displays fix for your identified platform and language. If you want to see download links for all the platforms, you have to click on the “Show hotfixes for all platforms and languages (3)” link.

11 Responses

I’ve downloaded the developer edition of win 8 and now i’ve found time to test it and found the same error and immediately came online to check a simple solution and found your site.You saved a lot of time if not i would have started debugging takes a lot of time.

links shown are useless … nothing there whatsoever other than win 7 info… thought this was a win 8 problem discsion… have a feeling win 8 is going to become the scam of the year….. so far have had 3 shots at me…. billed for supposdedly free media center then two sets of product codes for w\in8 pro and then today email telling me dvd is on its way…… nice going MS…. seems like one big pile of thrash is now on a newly purchased PS and was a bit of bucks invested ion puitting it all together…. Had win 7 pro installed.. and now….. zip nothing trash black scree….. ticking me off now for sure

This problems describes mine to a T. I am surprised that the obvious is missing and that’s how do you install this hotfix if you are unable to get to windows? I am at the blinking cursor and can’t get past it.

To recover a computer that cannot start, use one of the following workarounds.

Important These workarounds may not recover your system or restore your computer to a functional state.
Workaround 1
Start the UEFI user interface. The method to start this interface varies among computers. For more information, refer to the documentation for your environment.
Select the Compatibility Support Module option.

Note This is a hybrid legacy mode.
If the Compatibility Support Module option is not available in step 2, try Workaround 2.
Workaround 2
Note This workaround is intended to be used only in a system that has the Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT) feature enabled on a computer that uses Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST).
Start the UEFI user interface.

Note The method to start this interface varies among computers. For more information, refer to the UEFI documentation.
Click System Setup on the Startup Option menu.
In the System Setup screen, click the Advancedtab.
CLick Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST).
Select the RST driver. The version number starts with 11.5.x.xxxx or 11.6.x.xxxx.
Browse to the disk ID that has a number.

Note This ID represents the boot disk.
Select the disk from step 6, and then select the option to synchronize data. When the synchronization is finished, select the option to remove acceleration.
Accept the warning about data loss.
Restart the computer.

Note You do not have to back out of the menus in order to save the changes.